Search Results

Quantification of residual stresses is an important engineering problem impacting manufacturabilty and durability of metallic components. An area of particular concern is residual stresses that can develop during heat treatment of metallic components. Many heat treatments, especially in heat treatable cast aluminum alloys, involve a water-quenching step immediately after a solution-treatment cycle. This rapid water quench has the potential to induce high residual stresses in regions of the castings that experience large thermal gradients. These stresses may be partially relaxed during the aging portion of the heat treatment. The goal of this research was to develop a test sample and quench technique to quantify the stresses created by steep thermal gradients during rapid quenching of cast aluminum. The development and relaxation of residual stresses during the aging cycle was studied experimentally with the use of strain gauges.

A series of inflator tank tests was carried out to determine the amount of transient heat losses to the tank wall during these tests. The time history data of tank wall temperature, and tank interior gas temperature and pressure, were measured. The tank wall temperature data were analyzed using an inverse heat conduction method to generate the transient heat loss fluxes from the tank gas to the tank wall. The validity of the results are discussed along with the physical reasoning and experimental observations. This is the first part of an effort in a research project to develop a comprehensive heat transfer model to predict the transient heat losses to the tank wall during the inflator tank test.

In many task analyses using digital human figure models, only the terminal or apparently most stressful posture is analyzed. For reaches from a seated position, this is generally the posture with the hand or hands at the target. However, depending on the characteristics of the tasks and the people performing them, analyzing only the terminal posture could be misleading. This possibility was examined using data from a study of the reaching behavior of people with spinal cord injury. Participants performed two-handed forward reaching tasks. These reaches were to three targets located in the sagittal plane. The terminal postures did not differ significantly between those with spinal cord injury and those without. However, motion analysis demonstrated that they employed distinct strategies, particularly in the initial phase of motion.

The effect of temperature and preload on the bolt load retention (BLR) behavior of AZ91D and AE42 magnesium die castings was investigated. The results were compared to those of 380 aluminum die castings. Test temperatures from 125 to 175°C and preloads from 7 to 28 kN were investigated. The loss of preload for AZ91D was more sensitive to temperature than that observed for AE42, especially at low preloads. In general, retained bolt-load was lowest in AZ91D. All test assemblies were preloaded at room temperature and load levels increased when the assemblies reached test temperature. The load-increase was dependent on the preload level, test temperature, alloy, and results from thermal expansion mismatch between the steel bolt and the magnesium alloy components, mitigated by the onset of primary creep. Thermal exposure (aging) of AZ91D at 150°C improved BLR behavior.

The need for improved understanding of new magnesium alloys for the automotive industry continues to grow as the application for these lightweight alloys expands to more demanding environments, particularly in drivetrain components. Their use at elevated temperatures, such as in transmission cases, presents a challenge because magnesium alloys generally have lower creep resistance than aluminum alloys currently employed for such applications. In this study, a new die cast magnesium alloy, MEZ, containing rare earth (RE) elements and zinc as principal alloying constituents, was examined for its bolt-load retention (BLR) properties. Preloads varied from 14 to 28 kN and test temperatures ranged from 125 to 175°C. At all test temperatures and preloads, MEZ retained the greatest fraction of the initial imposed preload when compared to the magnesium alloys AZ91D, AE42, AM50, and the AM50+Ca series alloys.

New high-temperature Mg alloys are being considered to replace 380 Al in transmission cases, wherein bolt-load retention, and creep, is of prime concern. One of these alloys is die cast AE42, which has much better creep properties than does AZ91D but is still not as creep resistant as 380 Al. It is thus important to investigate bolt-load retention and creep of AE42 as an initial step in assessing its suitability as a material for transmission housings. To that end, the bolt-load retention behavior of die-cast AE42, AZ91D and 380 Al have been examined using standard M10 bolts specially instrumented with stable high-temperature strain gages. The bolt-load retention test pieces were die cast in geometries approximating the flange and boss regions in typical bolted joints. Bolt-load retention properties were examined as a function of time (at least 100 hours), temperature (150 and 175 °C) and initial bolt preload (14 to 34 kN).

The effects of stress in brain material was investigated with experimental and computational idealizations of the head. A water-filled cylinder impacted by a free traveling mass serves to give insight into what could happen to the brain during impact. Under an impact of sufficient velocity, cavitation can occur on the cylinder boundary opposite impact. Limited internal vaporization of the fluid may also occur during severe impact events. Cavitation occurred in these experiments at accelerations greater than 150 g's. Head forms of different sizing will experience an acceleration magnitude inversely proportional to the size difference to produce a similar pressure/cavitation response.

Great efforts have been made to develop the ability to accurately and quickly predict the durability and reliability of vehicles in the early development stage, especially for welded joints, which are usually the weakest locations in a vehicle system. A reliable and validated life assessment method is needed to accurately predict how and where a welded part fails, while iterative testing is expensive and time consuming. Recently, structural stress methods based on nodal force/moment are becoming widely accepted in fatigue life assessment of welded structures. There are several variants of structural stress approaches available and two of the most popular methods being used in automotive industry are the Volvo method and the Verity method. Both methods are available in commercial software and some concepts and procedures related the nodal force/moment have already been included in several engineering codes.

A failure prediction methodology that can predict sheet metal failure under arbitrary deformation histories including rotating principal stretch directions and bending/unbending with consideration of damage evolution is reviewed in this paper. An anisotropic Gurson yield criterion is adopted to characterize the effects of microvoids on the load carrying capacity of sheet metals where Hill’s quadratic anisotropic yield criterion is used to describe the matrix normal anisotropy and planar isotropy. The evolution of the void damage is based on the growth, nucleation and coalescence of microvoids. Mroz’s anisotropic hardening rule, which was proposed based on the cyclic plastic behavior of metals observed in experiments, is generalized to characterize the anisotropic hardening behavior due to loading/unloading with consideration of the evolution of void volume fraction. The effects of yield surface curvature are also included in the plasticity model.

The use of die cast magnesium for automobile transmission cases offers promise for reducing weight and improving fuel economy. However, the inferior creep resistance of magnesium alloys at high temperature is of concern since transmission cases are typically assembled and joined by pre-loaded bolts. The stress relaxation of the material could thus adversely impact the sealing of the joint. One means of assessing the structural integrity of magnesium transmission cases is modeling the bolted joint, the topic of this paper. The commercial finite element code, ABAQUS, was used to simulate a well characterized bolt joint sample. The geometry was simulated with axi-symmetric elements with the exact geometry of a M10 screw. Frictional contact between the male and female parts is modeled by using interface elements. Material creep is described by a time hardening power law whose parameters are fit to experimental creep test data.

Because niobium-clad 304L stainless steel sheets are considered for use as bipolar plates in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells, their mechanical behavior and failure mechanism are important to be examined. As-rolled and annealed specimens were tested in tension, bending and flattening. The effects of annealing temperature and time on the mechanical behavior and failure mechanism were investigated. Micrographic analyses of bent and flattened specimens showed that the as-rolled specimens have limited ductility and that the annealed specimens can develop an intermetallic layer of thickness of a few microns. The annealed specimens failed due to the breakage of intermetallic layer causing localized necking and the subsequent failure of Nb layer. The springback angles of the as-rolled and annealed specimens were also obtained from guided-bend tests.

In order to develop confidence in numerical models which are used for automotive crash simulations, results are compared with test data. Modeling assumptions are made when constructing a simulation model for a complex system, such as a vehicle. Through a thorough understanding of the modeling assumptions an appropriate set of variables can be selected and adjusted in order to improve correlation with test data. Such a process can lead to better modeling practices when constructing a simulation model. Comparisons between the time history of acceleration responses from test and simulations are the most challenging. Computing accelerations correctly is more difficult compared to computing displacements, velocities, or intrusion levels due to the second order differentiation with time. In this paper a methodology for enabling the update of a simulation model for improved correlation is presented.

Since muscles act to translate an electrical impulse from the central nervous system into motion, it is essential to have a suitable mathematical model for muscles and groups of muscles for a virtual soldier environment. This paper presents a methodology in which the muscle contraction is broken down into three distinct physiological processes: calcium release and re-absorption by the sarcoplasmic reticulum, the rate at which calcium binds and unbinds to troponin, and the generation of force due to cross-bridge cycling and the elasticity of the muscle fibers. These processes have been successfully modeled by Ding and Wexler as a system of coupled differential and algebraic equations. These equations give the calcium-time history and the force time history of the muscle. By varying the electrical stimulation rates, the muscles can produce forces of varying magnitude and duration over which the force can be maintained.

Creep-resistant magnesium alloys for automotive powertrain applications offer significant potential for vehicle weight reduction. In this study permanent mold casting, microstructure and creep behavior have been investigated for a series of ternary magnesium alloys (Mg-4Al-4X (X: Ca, Ce, La, Sr) wt%) and AXJ530 (Mg-5Al-3Ca-0.15Sr, wt%). A permanent mold was instrumented with twelve thermocouples and mold temperature was monitored during the casting process. Average mold temperature increased from 200°C to 400°C during a typical alloy casting series (fifteen to twenty castings). The cast microstructure for all alloys consists of primary α-Mg globular phase surrounded by eutectic structure which is composed of intermetallic(s) and α-Mg magnesium phases. The primary cell size of the AXJ530 increased from 18 to 24 μm with increasing mold temperature and a similar trend is expected for all alloys.

Originally written in 1976 and previously revised in 1983, The Maintenance Council (TMC) Recommended Practice RP-404B is intended to enhance the safety of motor carrier employees by providing guidance regarding the purchase and use of access systems on heavy truck and truck tractors. Compliance with the recommended practice is intended to permit anyone entering or exiting a cab to have three limbs in contact with the truck or truck-tractor at arty time. The scope of the recommended practice covers access systems to the cab and rear of cab areas of all types of heavy trucks and truck tractors, in contrast to Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety (BMCS) regulations which applies only to Cab Over Engine (COE) tractors. The Maintenance Council recommended practice also varies from the BMCS requirements in that it remains a design oriented document.

Compositional and microstructural variations in a casting can often result in rather significant variations in the response to a given aging treatment, leading to location dependent mechanical properties. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of copper content and solidification rate on the aging behavior of a type 319 cast aluminum alloy. The nominal composition of the alloy is Al-7% Si-3.5% Cu-0.25% Mg, however, typical secondary 319 aluminum specifications allow copper levels to vary from 3-4%. Solidification rates throughout a casting can vary greatly due to, among other factors, differences in section size. To determine the effect of copper level and solidification rate on the aging response, aging curves were experimentally developed for this alloy. Three different copper levels (3, 3.5, 4%) and two solidification rates were used for this study. Aging temperatures ranged from 150-290°C with nine aging times at each temperature.